Rating: 
Summary: The Other Side Of The Cholesterol Fears
Review: Dr. Ravnskov has written a scholarly book that exposes myths about heart disease and cholesterol. What is the role of diet in heart disease? According to the author, the myths are:
1. High-fat foods cause heart disease.
2. High cholesterol causes heart disease.
3. High-fat foods raise blood cholesterol.
4. Cholesterol blocks arteries.
5. Animal studies prove the diet-heart idea.
6. Lowering your cholesterol will lengthen your life.
7. Polyunsaturated oils are good for you.
8. The cholesterol campaign is based on good science.
9. All scientists support the diet-heart idea.
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Summary: Dr. Ravnskov is a Kidney specialist, They are very sharp.
Review: Dr. Ravnskov is a renal (kidney)specialist, they are sharp as tacks, I know, I go to a kidney specialist. As a Ph.D. in Chemistry, Dr. Ravnskov is trained in very high level mathematics and hard science, unlike many physicians. I know about Chemistry people, because my dad is a chemist, and my brother taught Physics at Northwestern in Chicago. To be honest, this has confirmed what I have thought for a long, long time. Kidney specialists treat diabetics, all of the time. My primary care physician said to be a kidney specialist is very, very difficult. When I go to my kidney specialist for a blood test review, there is nowhere to hide. Dr. Ravnskov says that the body is NOT made to take all of that refined sugar! We have heard the preachings of the medical establishment, low fat, low fat, eat carbs!!! Now, many people are very overweight, and who did they get this information from? The vast majority of the medical profession! As my kidney specialist told me, "Most people do not realize how exceedingly difficult it is to lose weight." Yes, going to the physician is very, very stressful! My kidney physician knows this, and has me take my blood pressure in a different setting. The last time, I was at his office, it was 200/100. However, taken by an RN friend, it was 127/74, yesterday. Blood pressure must be controlled, otherwise, it will destroy your kidneys. To be brutally honest, Dr. Stephens saved my life, can you put a price on that? Having been in a graduate psychology program and a county officer for 4 years, it is stress that makes your blood pressure crazy. I know of so many overweight people with normal blood pressure and cholestrol, what does that prove? You need to take this book to your physicians and have them read it! Mark
Rating:
Summary: Dr. Ravnskov is a Kidney specialist, They are very sharp.
Review: Dr. Ravnskov is a renal (kidney)specialist, they are sharp as tacks, I know, I go to a kidney specialist. As a Ph.D. in Chemistry, Dr. Ravnskov is trained in very high level mathematics and hard science, unlike many physicians. I know about Chemistry people, because my dad is a chemist, and my brother taught Physics at Northwestern in Chicago. To be honest, this has confirmed what I have thought for a long, long time. Kidney specialists treat diabetics, all of the time. My primary care physician said to be a kidney specialist is very, very difficult. When I go to my kidney specialist for a blood test review, there is nowhere to hide. Dr. Ravnskov says that the body is NOT made to take all of that refined sugar! We have heard the preachings of the medical establishment, low fat, low fat, eat carbs!!! Now, many people are very overweight, and who did they get this information from? The vast majority of the medical profession! As my kidney specialist told me, "Most people do not realize how exceedingly difficult it is to lose weight." Yes, going to the physician is very, very stressful! My kidney physician knows this, and has me take my blood pressure in a different setting. The last time, I was at his office, it was 200/100. However, taken by an RN friend, it was 127/74, yesterday. Blood pressure must be controlled, otherwise, it will destroy your kidneys. To be brutally honest, Dr. Stephens saved my life, can you put a price on that? Having been in a graduate psychology program and a county officer for 4 years, it is stress that makes your blood pressure crazy. I know of so many overweight people with normal blood pressure and cholestrol, what does that prove? You need to take this book to your physicians and have them read it! Mark
Rating:
Summary: An eye opener
Review: I am a physician and felt this book was very educational. After reading books by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig this was next. I am a firm believer that cholesterol is not the culprit nor red meat but all the bad oils we are eating. I think Ravnskov proves his point well. So well that I have taken my husband off his statin even with a cholesterol of 320. I constantly preach to my patients about the evils of partially hydrogenated oils and trans fats and of the benefits of omega-3. This is a must read for anyone whose doctor is trying to put them on a statin.
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Summary: The Cholesterol Myths
Review: I have read about this book "The Cholesterol Myths" on the Internet, and was VERY impressed of what I read, and am ordering it as soon as I'm finish typing my comment . Also, what most doctors and Cardiologists do not want to admit is that stress for example can raise your Cholesterol temporarely. Twenty yrs ago I read in a Medical Research book that they tested Law Students and Medical Students who BTW all had normal or low cholesterol levels, and right before their big final exams some of their total cholesterol shut over 300, a few days to about a week after their final exams their cholesterol went back to normal. I've a phobia and high anxiety when going to doctors and hospitals, and therefore my BP shoots sky high temporarely, and my cholesterol shoots up if it is taken the same day I have a doctor's appointment. If I go in just for the lab/lipid profile cholesterol test, my cholesterol is about 40 points lower. Yet when I mention the above to the doctors they brush it off with "you must be eating the wrong food (which I do very little ever once in a while) and you need to go on cholesterol lowering drugs". Let me tell you this: I used to work in a large hospital, and I know all about the kick backs the hospitals and doctors get from the drug companies. Lots of drugs are prescribed unecessary to patients. I know doctors get mad, and don't want to hear that, but how many try other methods first? One elevated cholesterol reading, and they are quick to prescribe cholesterol lowering drugs.
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Summary: I'm Still Vertical.
Review: I have somewhat high cholesterol (260s) and its been that way as far back as I can remember. Although I am in otherwise perfect health, my doctors have been pestering me to take the statin drugs for the past 10 years. This book's well researched and well reasoned arguments convinced me otherwise. So far, so good. Richard Weinstock, Ventura, Californina
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Summary: Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Heart Diseases
Review: People with high cholesterol should read this excellent book by Uffe Ravnskov. Ravnskov knows what he is sepaking and how to make the lay man understand what he tells.
I have read a number of books on various diets, so I was familiar with a number of the arguments. The best result I got was from a caffeine-free coffee substitute made from soyabeans I found on the net at www. S o y c o f f e e.c om. It so easy for someone to tell you to eat less, but if you are craving bad foods, eventually you will fail. In the first five days I was on this diet all the craving ceased and I was already 8 lbs down. If you were like me and cannot wait for your next slice of cake and at the same time really want to change your lifestyle, Try this.
Lowering your carb intake will also help in preventing cholesterol. So, on the whole taking precautions and remedial steps can keep off a lot of adversities. Dr. Uffe Ravnskov's book has been a real help.
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Summary: Great book -to share with your doctor
Review: The high ratings from the other reviewers already show that this is a very important book; a reality check for those with fear of fresh cholesterol foods, or with concerns about cholesterol levels. With cholesterol lowering drugs about $1000/year one can see the pressures to prescribe them from their makers, as a friend cardiologist was just offered $5000 simply to provide names for a cholesterol study -he called it a bribe and moved on. The TV and print ads suggest dire consequences from cholesterol and it is easy to see that most people and doctors fear the stuff. Busy doctors may -out of fear of law suits or lack of time to read the studies- follow guidelines that in the U.S. and Canada were overwhelmingly written by those receiving payment from the drug companies [that alone is a scandal by itself]. This book shows the science and reveals the fact that lowering cholesterol by any means does not reduce mortality rates, that there are peoples with high cholesterol without heart disease and that, at the very least, the science for lowering cholesterol in virtually anybody is rotten. The largest North American cholesterol lowering trial ever [2002 ALLHAT] and the largest trial in the world with the #1 selling cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor [2003 ASCOT] showed mortality after 3 or 6 years that was totally identical, while a trial in elderly [2002 PROSPER] showed increased cancer and also nobody saved. The science in women is even worse than in men. An early trial, EXCEL, was stopped at 11 months at a 2.75x greater mortality from the drug -but for the next 5 years we have publications as to how well the stuff [Mevacor] is tolerated [nobody keels over instantly] and how well it reduces "bad" cholesterol. I bet your doctor would like to know that. I've seen Dr. Ravnskov give talks to three large U.S. medical audiences and you could feel the collective relief that here we have a widely published fellow doctor who has analyzed the science and found cholesterol not to be a cardiovascular boogie man -which, in their hearts they knew but may have doubted. I suggest that if you are concerned about cholesterol you read this book, AND then give it to your doctor or cardiologist. Other reviewers pointed out that the book gives few tips for heart disease prevention -that is not the book's purpose- and for that McCully's "The Heart Revolution" book [ISBN 0060929731] is probably best. In fact, get both books and take turns with your doctor reading them. A fine book. Eddie Vos www.health-heart.org E-mail: vos@health-heart.org
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Summary: Are you worried by high cholesterol?
Review: Then read this book! It answers a lot of questions -- Exactly what is high cholesterol? Science doesn't know. -- Since the body manufactures cholesterol, what is the purpose of cholesterol? Science doesn't know. -- What happens to the body if cholesterol is lowered? Science doesn't know. Dr. Ravnskov quotes many sources and has done his research well in his attempt to point out that medical science doesn't know all the doctors think they know on the subject. Read this book then question your doctor -- I intend to....
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Summary: Can't Wait to Confront My Cardiologist
Review: This book should be read by everyone, especially doctors and especially those who specialize in cardiology. My own heart doctor has been trying to push statins on me for two years, despite the fact that my heart "epsiode" (a very minor infarction) took place 20 years ago, my total cholesterol is just 210, and high cholesterol (250+) with *zero* heart disease runs in my family. You should see him shudder at the abnormality of that figure, warning me that yet another drop in "normal" limits is on the AHA and NHLBI horizon. In his opinion, my total cholesterol should be 160 -- or dire consequences could result!
As its subtitle states, The Cholesterol Myths exposes the fallacy that saturated fat and cholesterol cause heart disease. Dr. Ravnskov is no "wacko"; his book is well-annotated and examines many of the major relevant studies over the past 50 years. I've checked a few of the references myself and have found them accurate. I've checked literature available on the AHA and NHLBI websites and seen for myself how they distort the truth.
In one example, the NHLBI states flatly that "international studies find that CHD is uncommon in cultures with low levels of serum cholesterol, even when... hypertension and cigarette smoking is relatively high." A check of the footnotes cited the "Seven Countries" study and "MONICA" project, both taken to task in Dr. Ravnskov's book. What the NHLBI did was choose only a few of the datapoints from these studies (Japan, China), where their statement was indeed true -- but they conveniently ignored all 25 or so other datapoints which clearly showed that overall there was no correlation between countries' cholesterol levels and CHD whatsoever!
A major contribution of Myths is its explanation of the way pro-cholesterol myth "scientists" and the drug companies use the "relative reduction" method of presenting their "wonder drugs'" value. If I, for example, take no drugs, my chances of a cadiac event might be 6% over the next 10 years. If I take statins for ten years, this might go down to 3%, which the drug companies present as a reduction of 50%! Sounds good, but the more sensible view would be to say that if I take no drugs, there's a 94% chance that nothing will happen to me, and if I take statins, there's a 97% chance -- wow, a whopping 3% gain! Would *you* take a drug (that can screw up your liver and muscles) for the rest of your life to go from 94% to 97%? Not me! This expose of statins is another fantastic contribution to medical common sense, and there are many more.
The Cholesterol Myths is simply a must-read.
P.S. I did confront my cardiologist, and he declined comment. I have a new one now....
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